John Barry John Barry

Born: 3 November 1933, York, England.

Biography:
Regarded as of the most successful and well-respected film composers of all time, John Barry Prendergast initially intended to follow in his father's footsteps by becoming a projectionist at his local cinema. However, after gaining experience working with the then music director of York Minster, and a spell in the army, he entered the musical world in 1955, forming the renowned jazz group The John Barry Seven. Barry became an established and well-known figure in Britain during the late 1950s and into the "swinging 60s", courting the tabloid press with his marriage to actress Jane Birkin, running with a British version of the Brat Pack that included Michael Caine, writing numerous hits for the Seven including "Hit and Miss" and "Silk Stockings", and recording with popular artists such as Adam Faith. His move into cinema came in 1960 when he was asked to write music for the Richard Todd/Peter Sellers crime thriller "Never Let Go", and the bawdy British comedy "Beat Girl", starring his old friend Faith. Although success with the Seven continued throughout the early sixties, Barry's emergence into the pantheon of film music history came after he scored the second James Bond film, "From Russia With Love", in 1963. Barry went on to score ten more Bond movies, including "Goldfinger" (1964), "Thunderball" (1965), "On her Majesty's Secret Service" (1969), "The Man With The Golden Gun" (1974), "Moonraker" (1979), "Octopussy" (1980) and "The Living Daylights" (1987), and worked with a roster of artists that included Shirley Bassey, Tom Jones, Louis Armstrong, Lulu, Duran Duran and A-Ha on the various theme songs. Although forever linked with the 007 franchise, Barry's other work has encompassed some of the greatest movie music ever written, from early classics such as "Zulu" (1964), "The Ipcress File" (1965), "The Quiller Memorandum" (1966), "Born Free" (1967), "The Lion in Winter" (1968) and "Midnight Cowboy" (1969), to modern box-office successes such as "Somewhere In Time" (1980), "Out of Africa" (1985), "Dances With Wolves" (1990), "Chaplin" (1992), "Indecent Proposal" (1993) and "The Specialist" (1994). He is the recipient of five Oscars, the first in 1967, and to this day remains an iconic figure in the film music industry. A brush with throat cancer in 1989 caused Barry's work rate to slow to only one or two films per year, but the quality has not diminished with the quantity. Most recently, Barry has released two non-film albums - "The Beyondness of Things" (said to be his rejected score from "The Horse Whisperer") and "Eternal Echoes", and premiered a musical based on Graham Greene’s "Brighton Rock" on stage in London in September 2004, but he has not actually released a film score since 2001. Barry currently resides in semi-retirement in Oyster Bay, New York with his wife Laurie and young son Jonpatrick.

Reviews:
The Beyondness of Things, Born Free, Chaplin, Cry, The Beloved Country, Dances With Wolves, Enigma, Goldfinger, King Kong, Mercury Rising, My Life, Out of Africa, Playing By Heart, Raise the Titanic, The Scarlet Letter, Somewhere in Time , The Specialist, Swept from the Sea, A View to a Kill, Zulu, The Classic Film Music of John Barry Volume 1 (compilation), and The Classic Film Music of John Barry Volume 2 (compilation)

Filmography:
Enigma (2001), Mercury Rising (1998), Playing By Heart (1998), Swept from the Sea (1997), Across the Sea of Time (1995), Cry, the Beloved Country (1995), The Scarlet Letter (1995), The Specialist (1994), Indecent Proposal (1993), My Life (1993), Ruby Cairo (1993), Chaplin (1992), Moviola (1992), The Witness (1992), Dances with Wolves (1990), My Sister's Keeper (1988), Masquerade (1988), The Living Daylights (1987), The Golden Child (1986), Howard the Duck (1986), Peggy Sue Got Married (1986), Jagged Edge (1985), Out of Africa (1985), A View to a Kill (1985), The Cotton Club (1984), Mike's Murder (1984), Until September (1984), The Golden Seal (1983), Hammett (1983), High Road to China (1983), Octopussy (1983), Svengali (1983), Frances (1982), Body Heat (1981), The Legend of the Lone Ranger (1981), Inside Moves (1980), Murder by Phone (1980), Night Games (1980), Raise the Titanic (1980), Somewhere in Time (1980), The Black Hole (1979), The Corn Is Green (1979), Hanover Street (1979), Moonraker (1979), Starcrash (1979), Willa (1979), The Betsy (1978), Game of Death (1978), The Deep (1977), Eleanor and Franklin: The White House Years (1977), First Love (1977), The Gathering (1977), The War Between the Tates (1977), The White Buffalo (1977), Young Joe, The Forgotten Kennedy (1977), Eleanor and Franklin (1976), King Kong (1976), Robin and Marian (1976), The Day of the Locust (1975), Love Among the Ruins (1975), The Dove (1974), The Man with the Golden Gun (1974), The Tamarind Seed (1974), A Doll's House (1973), The Glass Menagerie (1973), Alice's Adventures in Wonderland (1972), The Public Eye (1972), Diamonds Are Forever (1971), Mary, Queen of Scots (1971), Murphy's War (1971), They Might Be Giants (1971), Walkabout (1971), The Last Valley (1970), Monte Walsh (1970), The Appointment (1969), Midnight Cowboy (1969), On Her Majesty's Secret Service (1969), Boom (1968), Deadfall (1968), The Lion in Winter (1968), Petulia (1968), You Only Live Twice (1967), Born Free (1966), The Chase (1966), Dutchman (1966), Four in the Morning (1966), The Quiller Memorandum (1966), The Whisperers (1966), The Wrong Box (1966), The Ipcress File (1965), King Rat (1965), The Knack... and How to Get It (1965), Mister Moses (1965), Thunderball (1965), Goldfinger (1964), A Jolly Bad Fellow (1964), Man in the Middle (1964), Seance on a Wet Afternoon (1964), Zulu (1964), From Russia with Love (1963), The L-Shaped Room (1963), The Amorous Mr. Prawn (1962), Dr. No (1962), Mix Me a Person (1962), Beat Girl (1960), Never Let Go (1960).

Highest Grossing Films as at end of 2007 (adjusted for inflation):
Thunderball ($414.3m), Goldfinger ($361.4m), Dances With Wolves ($286.6m), You Only Live Twice ($236.2m), Moonraker ($184.3m), From Russia With Love ($175.4m), Diamonds Are Forever ($174.7m), Indecent Proposal ($169.4m), King Kong ($162.5m), Out of Africa ($161.4m)

Awards:
1990 Academy Awards - Winner, Best Original Score - Dances With Wolves
1985 Academy Awards - Winner, Best Original Score - Out of Africa
1969 Academy Awards - Winner, Best Original Score - The Lion in Winter
1967 Academy Awards - Winner, Best Original Score - Born Free
1967 Academy Awards - Winner, Best Original Song - "Born Free" from Born Free
1992 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Chaplin
1971 Academy Awards - Nominee, Best Original Score - Mary, Queen of Scots
1985 Golden Globes - Winner, Best Original Score - Out of Africa
1992 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Chaplin
1990 Golden Globes - Nominee, Best Original Score - Dances with Wolves
1968 BAFTA Awards – Winner, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – The Lion in Winter
1991 BAFTA Awards – Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – Dances With Wolves
1986 BAFTA Awards – Nominee, Anthony Asquith Award for Film Music – Out of Africa
1991 Grammy Awards – Winner, Best Instrumental Composition Written for a Motion Picture or Television – Dances With Wolves
1977 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Eleanor and Franklin
1975 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – Love Among the Ruins
1974 Emmy Awards – Nominee, Outstanding Music Composition for a Mini– Series, Movie, or Special – The Glass Menagerie

Links:
John Barry: A Life in Music edited by Geoff Leonard

Across the Sea of Time Alice's Adventures in Wonderland The Appointment Beat Girl The Beyondness of Things The Black Hole Body Heat Boom Born Free Chaplin The Chase The Cotton Club Cry the Beloved Country Dances With Wolves The Day of the Locust Deadfall Diamonds Are Forever The Dove Dr. No Enigma Eternal Echoes Frances From Russia With Love Game of Death/Night Games The Golden Child The Golden Seal Goldfinger Hammett High Road to China Howard the Duck Indecent Proposal The Ipcress File Jagged Edge King Kong King Rat The Knack... and How To Get It The Last Valley The Legend of the Lone Ranger The Lion in Winter The Living Daylights The Man With the Golden Gun Mary, Queen of Scots Masquerade Mercury Rising Midnight Cowboy Monte Walsh Moonraker My Life Octopussy On Her Majesty's Secret Service Out of Africa Peggy Sue Got Married Petulia Playing By Heart The Quiller Memorandum Raise the Titanic Robin and Marian Ruby Cairo The Scarlet Letter Sophia Loren in Rome Somewhere in Time The Specialist Star Crash/Until September Swept from the Sea The Tamarind Seed Thunderball A View to a Kill Walkabout The Whisperers The White Buffalo You Only Live Twice Zulu


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